What Is This - Winner

I posted a picture on steepshot last week asking a question.




What Is This?

I got some interesting answers, but I said I'd pick the best one for the prize.

I didn't realize it, but steepshot made the picture square when it posted instead of the regular ratio I took the picture in. So some of the picture got left out. It actually turned out good for this little contest, but I wasn't expecting that to happen.

Here's the full picture to give a little better perspective for those who saw it last week.

Here's some of my favourite runners up:

@abdulmanan - It clearly a scrap that is used as an art to make this place beautiful.

@wakeupkitty - I frequently wonder what all the rusty items called art are. They seldom look great. Personally I think it is a waste of money. Might be something like a sundial... modern kind seen through the eyes of an artisi

@dejmed - I feel it represents how metals and scraps have ruined vegetation and healthy life
I'd say it's poison to Mother Earth

I think @dejmed almost had it, but then @ddschteinn swooped in with only 2 days left and took the prize. The story behind this piece according to them turned out quite elaborate.

@ddschteinn - Seagull, landing on rusted hulk of a forlorn tanker or ship, stranded on a beach somewhere warm and balmy, that ran aground in a huge storm. Now there is no budget to get it pulled back to sea and sunk, so there it sits. Much to the local's chagrin, but the joy, or 'bird's meow'. The best I can come up with...

Congrats!!

The 'bird's meow' really made me chuckle.

Here's the screenshot of the transfer.

What did I think it was?

I said I had an idea last week about what it was, but I didn't want to say anything until now. To me, it's a fire pit. It's located in the front of the hotel surrounded by a bunch of benches. It's inside a stone circle and there is a piece of wood in the center. The piece of metal is the flames. I have a feeling it's meant to be a place where people gather to talk and socialize. Since there are too many bylaws and regulations preventing the hotel from having a real bonfire anymore, they had to go with a notional one. I guarantee a real one would work better for getting people out there, though. As you can see, the picture was taken on a really nice day and there isn't a soul around it. Obviously, nobody could see what I saw from the picture I posted but it made the guesses really interesting. I especially like that there were multiple references to the light post that looks like a bird in the background. I didn't even realize it was there until people started incorporating it into the guesses.

Thanks everyone who commented and made a guess.